Wilson Kipsang

World marathon record holder Dennis Kimetto will be looking to redeem his image as he heads to the 44th edition of the Honolulu Marathon that will be held on Sunday (10) in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

The 33 years-old who ran the fastest marathon debut in history in Berlin in 2012 of 2:04:16. And in 2014, he became the first athlete in history to break two hours and three minutes in the marathon. He clocked a head-turning 2:02:57 to set a new world record in Berlin.

Kimetto has struggled to reach the podium since his world record performance, with the recent dropping out at the 20km mark in Chicago Marathon.

Kimetto who vowed to lower his record after watching the trio of Eliud Kipchoge, Kenenisa Bekele and Wilson Kipsang failed to lower the record at the Berlin Marathon after the much hyped pre-race plan.

The Uasin Gishu born athlete will battle for honors will the course record holder and defending champion Lawrence Cherono.

Cherono set the course record last year when he cut the tape in 2:09.39 lowering the previous record of 2:11.12 that was set in 2004 by James Muindi.

The 29 year-old also holds the Amsterdam Marathon course record of 2:05.09 and has also vowed to lower it this year.

“The weather last year, wasn’t conducive to me because it was so cold but am heading there this time to attack that time,” said Cherono.

“My training has been well and i will ensure that I defend my title.i know it will not be easy but am hoping for better results,” added Cherono.

Other title contenders include Wilson Chebet who won the Honolulu Marathon in 2014 and has run the second fastest ever time in Honolulu (2:10:49) in 2016. Festus Talam ran the 2016 Honolulu Marathon as a pacesetter. He returns in 2017 to fight all the way to the finish.

Another hopeful is Titus Ekiru who surprised many when he broke the course record at Seville Marathon on his debut with a personal best of 2:07.43.

Vincent Yator comes with a personal best of 2:13.04 that he got at the 2013 Amsterdam Marathon and this will be his first time to race in Honolulu.

London Marathon winner this season Daniël Wanjiru and World 10000m record holder Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia will headline the 22nd edition of the 15K Pfixx Solar Montferland Run that will be held on Sunday 3, December in Heerenberg, Netherlands.

The biggets name on the start list will be of Ayana as she will target to lower the course record of 48.32 that was set by Bezunesh Bekele in 2005.

The 25 year-old will be included on the many big names that have in the past participated in this International 15K road race that include the likes of Kenenisa Bekele, Khalid Khannouchi, Haile Gebrselassie, Lornah Kiplagat, Constantina Dita, Paula Radcliffe, Geoffrey Mutai who holds the men course record of 42.25 that he set in 2012.

Other big names that made history are Wilson Kipsang, Dennis Kimetto, Meseret Defar and Edna Kiplagat.

Michel Butter

The Pfixx Solar Montferland Run is also a very popular road race for the Dutch top athletes. On Sunday December 3rd the Dutch marathoner Michel Butter will be running. He recently finished 6th in the prestigious New York Marathon, an important result for his campaign towards the European Championships in Berlin 2018, where Butter is aiming for a medal in the marathon.

The fastest Dutch time in the rich history of the Pfixx Solar Montferland Run was set last year by Abdi Nageeye who is the current fastest European marathoner with 2.08.16 that he got at the Amsterdam Marathon last month. In 2016 the 28 year-old ran 43:58 on this 15K course but he has a PB of over the same distance of 43:29 that he got at the 2015 Tilburg Marathon.

Young upcoming talents

The race organiser is every year also aiming for new unknown young upcoming talents. On December 3rd the Kenyans Alfred Barkach, Victor Chumo, Noah Kipkemboi and William Wanjiku will also battle for the top honors at Heerenberg.

Two times IAAF World half marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor has ruled out quitting the track and cross country after his triumph last Sunday at the TSC New York Marathon.

The 24- year old, World Cross Country champion said he is not in a hurry to retire on the track and the cross country and will continuecompeting in those events putting an end to speculation about him shifting to road races.

Kamworor said he has set his eyes on having Kenya reclaim the men’s 5000m and 10,000m races at the world Olympics stage which have proved elusive for many years.

The runners said his recent win at the New York marathon will not make him get carried away and bring his track and cross country to an abrupt end for road race running.

In an interview with upon arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Tuesday night, Kamworor expressed his interest in defending his World Half Marathon title on March 24, 2018 in Valencia, Spain.

“I will appreciate if I will be afforded an opportunity of going to defend my World Half Marathon title next year on March 24th,” he said.

Kamworor said after the New York marathon victory he will be in consultation with his coach Patrick Sang, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics Games steeplechase silver medalist, and two time world silver medalist in 1991 and 1993, on how to approach the 2018 season.

Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor suprised the world when he won the New York City Marathon that was held on SUnday (5) in New York.

Described by his coach Patrick Sang as “a warrior” few athletes can match the incredible versatility and sheer quality of Geoffrey Kamworor.

The two-time World Half-Marathon, two-time World Cross Country champion and 2015 World 10,000m silver medallist cut the tape in 2:10.48

Wilson Kipsang who was the race favorite and the fastest runner on paper, couldn’t catch him and finished second in 2:10.51.

Lelisa Desisa and Lemi Berhanu finished third and fourth in 2:11.32 and 2:12.52 respectively.

Abdi Abdirahmman was the top American man, placing seventh in 2:12.48 despite falling at the very first water stop. Meb Keflezighi, the 2009 champion and sentimental favorite in his 26th and final professional race, finished 11th.

The marathon was run against the backdrop of heightened security after a terrorist attack earlier in the week killed eight people on a bike path in the city. The race was described as a “very-well policed event, with many layers of security,” said New York Police Department Chief Carlos Gomez.

Mary Keitany – the winner of the women’s race at the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon – will be looking to add a fourth TCS New York City Marathon title to her glittering CV on Sunday.

Victory would also ensure the 35-year-old Kenyan reclaims her position at the top of the Abbott World Marathon Majors (AWMM) Series XI leaderboard from her Ethiopian adversary Tirunesh Dibaba who was runner-up to Keitany in London and then went on to win the Bank of America Chicago Marathon last month.

Keitany, who has won in New York for the past three years, will be racing her first marathon since winning the London Marathon in a stunning time of two hours 17 minutes and one second back in April – the second fastest time ever in an all-female race.

Her main rival in the Big Apple is likely to be Edna Kiplagat who was second at this year’s Boston Marathon and then runner-up at the 2017 World Championships in London – a result that places her fifth in the AWMM Series XI standings.

The Ethiopian challenge will be led by 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Mare Dibaba who did not finish this year’s London Marathon but returned to the capital to finish eighth in the World Championships marathon this summer.

American fans will be getting behind home favourite Shalane Flanagan who was runner-up in New York in 2010 and sixth in last year’s Olympics.

In a hard-to-predict men’s race, defending champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie (Eritrea) will again be one of the favourites. Unlike the London Marathon, New York does not have pacemakers and Ghebreslassie, the former World Champion, has proved himself one of the best marathon runners in the world in championship and unpaced races.

If the pace is fast, however, then the former world record holder Wilson Kipsang (Kenya) is likely to be the man to beat. The 35-year-old, two-time London Marathon winner was a late entrant to the elite field in New York after dropping out of the Berlin Marathon at the 30 kilometre point.

Another name to watch out for will be the Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor who has two World Cross Country titles and two World Half Marathon victories to his name.

No one from the AWMM Series XI leaderboard is in the men’s field so there will be some new names in the standings come Sunday evening.

World marathon record holder Mary Keitany and Edna Kiplagat will battle for honors at the TCS New York Marathon that will be held on Sunday 5, November 2017 in New York.

The two training partners and who happens to be the best of friends will face off as they fight for the glory on that Sunday morning.

Statistically Keitany stands out as she has been in great form as she recently won the Great North Run and also setting the marathon record in London early this year.

“My training’s have been great and my body is in great shape and now what remains is to see how I will react to the challenges each opponent will throw at me,” said Keitany.

The 34 year-old will be aiming to win her fourth consecutive crown in New York with her compatriots expected to escort her to her fourth coronation.

Kiplagat, the two-time marathon world champion, won silver at this year’s world championships in London and Ethiopia’s Mare Dibaba and former London champion Tigist Tufa will be the stumbling block in her path.

Betsy Saina of Kenya who finished fifth at the Great North Run in London will be debuting and looking for honors.

Saina was motivated by her friend Vivian Cheruiyot, who was running her second marathon and clinched the gold medal in Frankfurt, said it is a motivation for her to set her own pace and path as she launches her career in marathon.

Mary Keitany,Edna Kiplagat, Geoffrey Kamworor and Wilson Kipsang to race at the TCS New York Marathon on Sunday 5, November in New York.

Kipsang Vs Kamworor

The late entrant in NYC is former world marathon record holder Wilson Kipsang, who despite failing to finish the Berlin marathon late last month, ruled himself fit to compete in New York.

Earlier this year he set a new course record at the Tokyo Marathon when he thrashed off the previous record of 2:05.43 that was set by Dickson Chumba in 2014 and lowered it to 2:03.58.

Kipsang previously held the marathon world record of 2:03:23, which he ran at the 2013 BMW Berlin Marathon, until Dennis Kimetto broke it at the same event the following year.

The 2012 London Olympic Marathon bronze medalist has run under 2:05 eight times, the most of any runner in history.

“My training was excellent before Berlin, but I had a bad day there,” Kipsang said. “Now, I am very happy and thankful I was given a chance to use my training effort in New York City, and will try to win there as I did three years ago.”

Geofrey Kamworor who made the marathon debut over the 42.195km distance aged just 20, finishing third in 2:06:26 one place behind his mentor and NN Running team-mate Eliud Kipchoge.

In 2014 he enjoyed solid marathon outings for sixth in Tokyo (2:07:37) and fourth in Berlin (2:06:39) before placing second in his last marathon race in New York two years ago when finishing 14 seconds adrift of Stanley Biwott.

After a two-year break from the marathon he is delighted to return to “The Big Apple” where his performance will be keenly anticipated.

“I am happy to be welcomed back to the TCS New York City Marathon,” explains Geoffrey. “I enjoyed running this course and the organsation is wonderful. Since the World Championships my preparation has gone well and I am really focused on November 5.

The defending NYC champion and 2015 world champion Ghirmay Gebreslassie, became the youngest winner in the history of the New York City Marathon last year,at 21 years-old when he cut the tape in 2:07:51.

He posted the third-fastest winning time and was the first Eritrean to win the race. In 2015, he became the youngest IAAF World Championships winner and his gold medal was Eritrea’s first ever at the event.

Ghebreslassie was fourth at the Rio 2016 Olympic Marathon and owns a personal best of 2:07:46 from the 2016 Virgin Money London Marathon, where he also finished fourth.

Another title contender is Lemi Berhanu, the 22-year-old from Ethiopia who won the Boston Marathon in 2016, and has a personal best of 2:04:33 from the 2016 Dubai Marathon.

Lelisa Desisa, also from Ethiopia, finished second in New York in 2014 and third in 2015 before failing to finish last year. The two-time Boston Marathon champion owns a personal best of 2:04:45 from the 2013 Dubai Marathon.

The five Kenyans left Kenya for New York on Monday and are eager to bring home both the titles.

Kenya’s Edwin Kiptoo will heading to Beirut to defend his title at the 15th edition of the Blom Bank Beirut Marathon that will be held on Sunday 12 November in Beirut, Labanon.

The 29 year old will who won the race last in a time of 2:13.19 will bear the pressure of defending his title.

“I remember something big,” he says of his initial trip to Beirut. “I didn’t expect to win the race, so, when I think back to Beirut, I just remember a big victory in my running career.

It was a highlight in my running career, a day that I won’t forget in my life. I believe that when you train hard and are disciplined in all that you are doing in your daily life, you will get victories. I believe that being the boss over your own life will make you reach far.”

After finishing third at the 2016 Brighton Marathon, a race in which he set his PB best time of 2:11.29, he turned his attention to a an autumn marathon accepting an invitation to race Beirut.

Recent changes to the course, including the removal of a lengthy and stamina-testing 14% climb along the Mediterranean coast, will certainly help this year’s field challenge the event record of 2:11.04 set by Jackson Limo in 2015. Certainly, Kiptoo believes he is up to the task.

He reveals his training has been going extremely well and he can certainly point to some fine results which have boosted his confidence. He won the Luxembourg Night Marathon early this year when he cut the tape in 2:16.55 and then finished second in the Hamburg Half Marathon. More recently he came close to beating his personal best half marathon time of 1:00.11.

“My training this year had been going very well. On October 1st I won the Breda half marathon in 1:00.43,” he declares.

I feel the body is still strong and I was fresh when I finished the race. I am now counting down the weeks and doing my last part of the training towards Beirut. I am happy to defend my title.”

My goal is to improve my time and also to retain my position of last year. Though I have pressure as defending champion, I know I can make it.”

Kiptoo who runs Volare Sports, he trains in Iten with a talented group of marathoners known as Mwisho wa Lami. The group includes former world record holder Wilson Kipsang and John Komen.

The latter has a personal best of 2:07.13 a time that Kiptoo would certainly like to beat one day.

The Beirut Marathon founded in 2003 by May El Khalil who remains Chairperson of the organization.

Ms. El Khalil was hit by a truck while out running 20 years ago and while enduring a lengthy hospital stay she conceived the idea of having an elite world class marathon in the Lebanese capital.

World marathon record holders Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia), Paula Radcliffe (Great Britain) as well as Lord Sebastian Coe, President of the IAAF have attended the marathon over the past three years an indication that interest in the event is growing at a phenomenal rate.

If Kiptoo wins the race this year he would be the second person to defend his title since Ethiopia’s Mohammed Temam who did it in 2010.

Wilson Kipsang says he wants to join the exclusive company of Haile Gebreselassie who shattered the world marathon record twice.

Three other Kenyans, Paul Tergat (2003), Patrick Makau (2011) and Dennis Kimetto (2014) broke the world record in Berlin. In the 2013 Berlin Marathon, Kipsang clocked 2.03.23 for his record.

Having ran sub-2:04 in his last two races in Berlin, where he finished second, and Tokyo, where he won in an all-comers record time of 2:03.58, Kipsang shares his thoughts on his 2017 season with KweséESPN.

How do you rate the last edition of the Berlin Marathon where you grabbed a personal best of 2:03.13 behind eventual winner Kenenisa Bekele?

“My season has been good so far, all the way from Tokyo, I took my rest well for about one month and I have been building up for Berlin and I can feel my body is responding well as the race nears.”

“I can say last year in Berlin it was one of the best races since I had prepared well to break the world record. I want to really say I achieved one part of my target of improving my personal best, but the other part of breaking the world record I didn’t,” the Kenyan star said.

Wilson Kipsang is the former world-record holder in the marathon with a time of 2:03:23, which he set at the 2013 Berlin Marathon. Georgina Goodwin for ESPN

“The whole thing was a big mess-up because I had to push the pace alone as the pacemakers were really not that strong. From 27km to 42km, to do that on your own is very difficult, plus my competitor and the eventual winner that is Bekele, he didn’t help much as he ran from behind all through and that slowed us during the last kilometres and we didn’t break the world record.

“What I learnt from it, is that this time around we need to have pacemakers who push steady from the start and are good. As for all competitors, we need to work together because running alone is not ideal.

“Especially as for Eliud Kipchoge, we need to do push together till 37km and then I can handle it,” Kipsang added.

How does it feel to run sub-2:04 a record four times?

“For me, you find I’m one of the best now, I have managed to run under 2:04 four times and sub-2:05 in another four races, no one has ever done that. The secret behind this is just consistency, I’m always training and I have known how to prepare, how to run a 2:04, a 2:03 or 2:05.

Kenenisa Bekele won the 2016 Berlin Marathon in just over two hours. Maurizio Gambarini/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

“With my preparations it’s just a matter of improving on some areas and then knowing that this is the target, and I always achieve [it], it’s just matter of being disciplined, staying focused and train well. It’s not matter of training hard but training well. Knowing what do and doing it at the right time,” he said.

So, how big is the race on Sunday?

“This year’s Berlin Marathon field is very strong. We have Kenenisa Bekele and Eliud Kipchoge, these guys have been doing very well on the track. Bekele, a world-record holder in 5000m and 10000m;

Kipchoge has been featuring in those events too and they know each other very well, but for me I think I am more specialised in marathon.

“If you try to see their races in the marathons, they have done well but I am more experienced than them, so when we meet there is a high chance of producing the best this time.

“Also, the other bad side is if all the guys will be very strong and there is a chance that everybody will be trying to keep a close watch on the other one, that sometimes lowers the time so much. It might reach a point where everyone just wants to go for a win and it’s not about time anymore. It is a two-way fate.”

Eliud Kipchoge AP Photo/Luca Bruno

Why are fast times and records often recorded at Brandenburg Gate?

“You find that in the Berlin Marathon course what helps so much is not even the flatness, it is the weather, the weather there is always 80 percent good and with the course being flat the probability of fast times is very high.

If you compare [it] to London, it is always equally good, as seen when Eliud Kipchoge ran 2:03.05 very close to the world record, but the weather always is a factor as it is cold most of the time but in the German city, the temperatures are always between 10 to 17 degrees, 12 to 16 degrees and those are temperatures that assist so much.”

Having broken the world record before, what factors are ideal to achieve this again?

“What it takes to break the world record is, first, determination, it all starts from you; you should have that feeling and that confidence that you want to go for that record. Then from there the preparations come in, what will you do? You have to start the right buildup, stay healthy, have [the] right training programme, have strong guys in training and know right timings.

“Sometimes you find guys train so much by the time you go and compete you are already tired, so you should make sure you pick your shape just when the race is very close because sometimes you find that you have trained and you are in top shape one month before the race, so by the time you compete you are out.

“Sometimes I train until when I’m running I feel like I’m in the race and the body should be in a position to sense, is that pace a world-record pace or you can run a 2:04, 2:05 or 2:03.”

With such a high-quality race, what effect does the pressure bring?

“With the kind of pressure it helps to run well because you know you have the family, your fans and everybody watching, knowing you once broke the world record and they want you to do it again and are looking forward to see you compete with Bekele and Kipchoge, wondering who is going to win.

It really gives you pressure because in a way you have to do something, it disappoints us if you don’t run because the body doesn’t respond or you are sick on the day, you find that you might not feel it for yourself but you feel it for your fans.

“I like challenge, that gives me motivation to run even faster. For me stay high I have to challenge that record again and see if I can do it twice.”

Wilson Kipsang. Photo by LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images

How much did the 2017 Tokyo Marathon win and clocking an all-comers record motivate him for this quest?

“I want to say that when I ran in Tokyo the record was 2:05:42; my plan was to try to run the world record in Tokyo because my body was in a shape of 2:03 or 2:02 and running 2:03.58 proved that I still have the potential to go for the record, because if I compare that to Berlin.”

What next after Berlin?

“I don’t want to say what next after Berlin because I always plan after the event. I will sit with my manager and evaluate what I will perform and we decide for next season.”

Expectations for Sunday?

“First to win, then to break the world record, that is it.”

With the world record at 2:02.57, will he be satisfied if he runs 2:02.56?

“Yes. I will be satisfied, that is a world record I would have achieved.”

Former World marathon record holder Wilson Kipsang has been added to the elite list of the largest marathon in the world the TCS New York Marathon that will be held on Sunday, November 5 in New York City.

The 35 year-old won the New York City Marathon in 2014 in his debut on the five-borough course, cutting the tape in 2:10.59, just seven seconds ahead of Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa. He went on to claim the World Marathon Majors title that year.

Earlier this year he set a new course record at the Tokyo Marathon when he swept off the previous record of Dickson Chumba that he had set in 2014 of 2:05.43 and lowering it to 2:03.58.

Kipsang previously held the marathon world record of 2:03:23, which he ran at the 2013 BMW Berlin Marathon, until Dennis Kimetto broke it at the same event the following year.

The 2012 London Olympic Marathon bronze medalist has run under 2:05 eight times, the most of any runner in history.

“My training was excellent before Berlin, but I had a bad day there,” Kipsang said. “Now, I am very happy and thankful I was given a chance to use my training effort in New York City, and will try to win there as I did three years ago.”

Kipsang will will face off with the defending champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie of Eritrea. The 21 year-old became the youngest men’s winner in the history of the New York City Marathon last year, breaking the tape in 2:07:51.

He posted the third-fastest winning time and was the first Eritrean to win the race. In 2015, he became the youngest IAAF World Championships winner and his gold medal was Eritrea’s first ever at the event.

Ghebreslassie was fourth at the Rio 2016 Olympic Marathon and owns a personal best of 2:07:46 from the 2016 Virgin Money London Marathon, where he also finished fourth.

The men’s field also includes Lemi Berhanu, the 22-year-old from Ethiopia who won the Boston Marathon in 2016, and has a personal best of 2:04:33 from the 2016 Dubai Marathon, the fastest personal best in the field.

Lelisa Desisa, also from Ethiopia, finished second in New York in 2014 and third in 2015 before failing to finish last year. The two-time Boston Marathon champion owns a personal best of 2:04:45 from the 2013 Dubai Marathon.

Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor also returns. The 24-year-old was the runner-up in 2015 and is a four-time world champion, twice in cross-country and twice in the half-marathon. His personal-best time of 2:06:12 came from his marathon debut in 2012, when he finished third at the Berlin Marathon.

Berlin Marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge is not yet done with breaking the world record as he aims to set a new one in the coming athletics season.

After a failed attempt at the Berlin Marathon, Kipchoge said the world record is within his reach and will go for it in the new season.

“I will keep training as hard as I can. I will keep pushing the boundaries as hard as I can. A world record is still within me, it’s still somewhere in my feet,” he said.

He added:” There is no doubt Berlin Marathon came amidst pressure to break the Word record, that did not happen but luckily that was just a hurdle and not a limitation, it gives me another opportunity to push the limits as I have always done. In fact, I don’t believe in any limits.”

However, he did not disclose at which particular city marathon he will attempt to break the world record but exuded confidence that he will do that in any of those he will participate.

The world champion said the rains in the German capital during the Berlin marathon slowed him down to frustrate his bid for the world record.

Kipchoge braved wet conditions Sunday to cross the finish line at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 32 seconds, missing out on the world record by 35 seconds which is held by compatriot Dennis Kimetto.

The win saw Kipchoge – a two-time London Marathon champion – underline his status as the world’s best current marathoner after beating a deep field that included the second fasted man in the distance and defending champion Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia and former world record holder Wilson Kipsang,

Kipchoge said now that season has ended he will take a break to be with his family as he rests before resuming training in December.

Kipchoge was speaking during a breakfast hosted by Truck and bus manufacturer Isuzu East Africa (Isuzu EA) in his honour for his win at the Berlin Marathon a week ago.

“Today, they have stood with me despite not breaking the world record. Through this gesture of appreciation, I say thank you. It is rare to see athletes celebrated in the country despite outstanding performances,” said the champion.

“I look forward to flying the Kenyan flag higher, breaking the world record in the races to come and driving away with The Luxury Isuzu D-Max to Eldoret.”

Speaking at the event, Isuzu EA Managing Director Rita Kavashe, emphasized the importance of celebrating and honouring Kenyan athletes as it boosts their morale and encourages them to work harder.

This win recognizes your hard work and outstanding achievements, and I hope that this will spur you on to achieve even greater heights in sports,” said Rita. “Athletes work very hard for what they achieve, whether they are amateur or professional. Therefore, it is only right we honour, celebrate, appreciate and encourage each one of them, irrespective of a loss or win.”